8282’s Elevated Take on Authentic Korean Food on the Lower East Side
8282 thrives in New York City’s evolving backdrop with its elevated acquire on authentic Korean food stuff. The moment home to The Meatball Store, this Lower East Facet joint has reworked the house into a light-weight-hearted, upbeat environment conducive to winding down and throwing your very long function working day out the doorway.
Named right after South Korea’s region code, +82, Chef Bong Le Jo and his lover, Jee Kim, devised a menu that retains up with the culinary developments in Seoul, by means of the eyes of a New Yorker. Created to be shared, the menu is divided into two groups: smaller plates identified as Anju, which means foods that you eat when drinking, and much larger plates termed Banju, describing the act of consuming and drinking collectively. The servers took fantastic treatment in finding to know our tastebuds, explaining the menus, and sharing their tips throughout our complete dinner.
The Sips
Head mixologist, Katrina Sobredilla, intended a cocktail menu that cleverly pairs flavor notes with menu merchandise. I was straight away drawn to the Secret Garden for its powerful mix of ingredients: a dry gin, botanical liqueur, snap pea syrup, lemon, and thyme. The concoction offered an earthy nevertheless light sip, acting like a palate cleanser concerning the hearty meals. My dining associate opted for the Tea Social gathering, which Kat shared was her spin on New York’s clichéd nightlife staple: the espresso martini. As a substitute of espresso, the foundation of this fresh new and airy consume was a caffeinated jasmine tea soju.
The Smaller Plates (Anju)
Foods plating when performed appropriate can frequently be an art type, and artwork is precisely what I assumed of as our server introduced out our very first anju plate, the grilled octopus. Fiery tones of reds, oranges, and yellows furnished a vibrant phase for the charred octopus, which was cooked to its suitable consistency. The octopus sat on a mattress of bell pepper puree, roasted squash, and a light-weight lining of burrata. I’m satisfied to report that this dish’s flavor easily matched its visual charm.
No Korean eating working experience is complete with out sampling the classic fried rooster. For our 2nd appetizer, we opted to share the Boneless K.F.C, which we snacked on during our total meal as a comforting respite from the burst of flavors in the other dishes. The dish hit the place with its tender fried rooster thighs tossed in a soy garlic sauce and served with pickled radish noodles.
The Big Plates (Banju)
The banju section of the menu is made up of a restricted but inventive checklist of six dishes, which was a welcomed relief for a person with recurrent decision tiredness. For our to start with dish, we shared the dakgalbi kimchi-bap, consisting of gochujang marinated hen over cheesy kimchi rice. Each individual bite was reminiscent of American comfort food stuff, with the abundant umami flavors of Korean palates. There was one thing extra enjoyable about the charred crunchy bits at the base of the skillet.
Our 2nd dish was a fancier consider on the commonly eaten jjajangbap, a noodle dish with black bean sauce. 8282’s elevated version of the jjajang bori-bap incorporates seared scallops over barley, tossed in a medley of black bean sauce, truffle paste, and mushrooms. The scallops were being cooked to perfection as they melted in your mouth. Serving barley rather of noodles also results in a a lot more sizeable and filling bite.
The Sweets
We capped the night time with another headliner, the injeolmi ice product. Reminiscent of peanut butter, injeolmi is a Korean snack produced from pounding glutinous rice flour and ground soybean flour. The nutty base included the best savory bite for the vanilla ice product, honey, and parmesan cheese to sit on top rated. I know what you are pondering, parmesan cheese, nut butter, ice cream?! Maintain your judgment — I would be lying if I mentioned I hadn’t believed about this dessert every other working day due to the fact I had it. The dessert correctly marries sweet with umami and smooth with grainy.
Amongst the passionate servers, inventive menus, and alluring cocktails, my time at 8282 proved to be really the unforgettable eating practical experience. I wouldn’t wait way too lengthy to ebook a reservation, the area crammed up prior to my 1st scorching banju plate arrived.
8282
Web site
84 Stanton Avenue, New York, NY.
Open up Wednesday-Sunday from 5:00-11:00PM
